Fighting the War

America Turns the Tide

Major Battles

Schlieffen Plan Leads to Stalemate

• Before the start of the war, France had heavy fortifications along their border with Germany.
• Germany planned to cut through Belgium to take the French by surprise
• They wanted to defeat France quickly
• Needed to send their victorious troops to the east quickly to stop the Russians, who would take longer to mobilize
• Belgium put up a strong resistance, took a long time to defeat them – Russia invaded Germany in the meantime
• Germans got into France and had to send troops back to stop the Russians
• Germans were halted outside of Paris and the war entered a new phase

Stalemate

• Trench warfare – new machine guns and artillery made people take cover in trenches
• Armies tried to flank each other – “race to the sea” – didn’t work – just more trenches
• Defensive war – front didn’t move – thousands were dying for just a few miles of land

Allies had Problems

• German U-Boats were devastating the British ships and keeping supplies from getting to the Allies
• ¼ of the British merchant ships were sunk
• Allied soldiers were exhausted and demoralized after 2.5 years of fighting
• Thousands and thousands of casualties
• Shell Shock
• Stalemate bummed people out
• Italy’s army was defeated
• Russia pulled out of the war – German and Austrian forces could look to the west

Russia’s Issues

• The liberal democratic government set up in Russia in March 1917 was having a hard time
• Unable to keep the mutinous Russian army supplied
• The Bolsheviks (revolutionary Communists), led by Vladimir Lenin, seized power
• Promised “peace and bread” to the people
• Signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk
• Terms were harsh towards the Russians
• Russia had to give up Finland, Poland, Ukraine, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania
• But it got them peace – no more war for Russia

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America Turns the Tide

• Navy helps Shut Down U-Boats
• Convoy system – heavy guard of destroyers and cruisers that protected merchant ships
• Could sink U-Boats with depth charges
• Basically made a chain of ships all the way across the Atlantic
• U.S. Navy helped lay a 230 mile line of underwater mines across the North Sea from Scotland to Norway
• Bottled up German U-Boats – kept them out of the Atlantic
• Destroyed a lot of German U-Boats
• They couldn’t replace their losses quick enough
• Made it so supplies could continue to flow to the Allies

America Turns the Tide

• Selective Service Act raised about 500,000 troops initially – they were trained and sent to Europe
• American Expeditionary Force – official name for the American army in Europe in WWI
• Doughboys – nickname for American troops, called that because they used pipe clay (dough) to clean their white belts
• Gen. John J. Pershing – leader of AEF
• The Allies wanted to just use the AEF as reinforcements where they were needed
• Pershing said “no” – wanted to keep the AEF together as a unified fighting force
• Wanted to go and attack and not play defense
• Could have a greater role in the peacemaking process if were a U.S. Army

Doughboys and Pershing

America Turns the Tide

• American forces brought enthusiasm and freshness to the Allies
• Gave other soldiers hope and encouraged them to keep fighting
• Tipped the scales in favor of Allies
• America arrived at a key time – helped to stop a major Germany advance summer of 1918 and helped win key victories against Germans
• American Industry and production was the biggest help

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Sgt. Alvin York

• Mountaineer and blacksmith from Tennessee (basically a “hillbilly”)
• Was a conscientious objector – didn’t want to kill, against the bible
• Decided it was ok if the cause was just
• Killed 25 Germans with his rifle and revolver and with the help of 6 other doughboys he captured 132 German prisoners
• He became a celebrity – movies were made about him, check it out!

Harlem Hellfighters

• 369th Infantry Regiment
• African American Troops
• Spent more time in combat than any other Americans in WWI
• One of the most decorated units in the war
• Had to deal with racism still

Major Battles of WWI

• Double check that your map is filled out.
• Take notes on the battles from the next slide on the back of your map sheet
• Look up one additional battle online.

Battles to Look Up

Mandatory

• First Marne
• First Somme
• Meuse-Argonne

One Optional

• Tannenberg
• Second Ypres
• Verdun
• Third Ypres
• Gallipoli
• Jutland

Information to Include

• When was it?
• Where was it?
• Who fought?
• 1-3 key facts
• Firsts? Most deadly?
• Outcomes/Aftermath
• who won, how many casualties

Battle of the Marne

• September 1914
• Along the Marne River in France
• Allies (France/UK) defeat the German Offensive outside of Paris
• Prevented the Germans from capturing France
• Failure of the Schlieffen Plan – sets up the “race to the sea” and trench warfare
• Forced Germany into a 2 front war

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First Battle of the Somme

• British and French empires against the German Empire – French/British offensive
• July 1-18, 1916 – Somme River, France
• One of the largest battles in WWI
• About 1,000,000 men wounded or killed total
• 60,000 British troops killed or wounded on the first day of the battle
• One of the bloodiest battles in human history
• Allies ended up winning – they stopped the German offensives in Verdun
• Did not really gain much ground for the cost of so many lives

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Meuse-Argonne Offensive

• Fought in the Argonne Forest
• Last Allied offensive that stretched along the western front
• Main engagement of the Americans in WWI
• Largest battle in U.S. military history, 1.2 million American soldiers
• African American troops helped the allies to gain a victory
• First time the Browning Automatic Rifle was used in combat
• Pushes the Germans back enough to where they decide to call it quits